Month: August 2012

Recently my family relocated to a rural village in the High Atlas mountains. We also got a fairly kid-friendly camera/video camera. So. Here’s a little visual demonstration of what unschooling looks like for us these days:

Najma Mohamed wrote an excellent piece ‘Community Food Networks’ about Muslims feeding people through food banks and other services for SISTERS Magazine’s August issue. I wanted to share her list of resources here and ask that people add to the list and more importantly be aware that

“Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is reported to have said that feeding the hungry is one of the actions which can earn one paradise.”

so while you are enjoying a return to eating at regular intervals after Ramadan, please remeber those who are chronically hungry and give, give, give and get, get, get!

From Mohamed’s article…

What does a community food bank do?

The most important task of a food bank is to source food from donors such as farms, manufacturers, retailers and consumers. The food bank stores, sorts and at times packages the food, which is then distributed through community agencies such as food pantries or community food banks. Many other community organisations such as shelters, soup kitchens and clinics, also provide key outlets for distributing food to the needy.

My mother fondly recalls the days when she would bundle me up in my snow gear, putting me into my little red wagon along with a big stash of soiled cloth nappies, and then would drag us along to the laundrette for the twice-weekly nappy-washing days. It must have been my gregarious baby disposition which made this chore of cleaning poop-covered packages so lovingly remembered. Soon enough, she began using a nappy delivery service, but I hear that she still had to do the dirty work of getting the “Number 2s” off before exchanging them for a batch of fresh ones. None of my mum’s nostalgia encouraged my eco-conscious self to try cloth nappies with my first child. I fleetingly considered cloth nappies, but I vaguely remember convincing myself that surely the water used in the washing process must be just as environmentally hazardous as the use of disposable nappies. And with that, I bought disposables – many, many disposables.

Decisions, decisions

Margari Aziza Hill, an educator and writer in the US, had a far more pragmatic approach to deciding whether to cloth or not, “Initially, I considered cloth diapers as a solution to a waste disposal problem in our second story row home apartment. We can only take out trash once a week. I am really not a fan of diaper genies and the thought of storing stinky, poopy diapers for a week really repulsed me. That led me to think about the long term effects of disposable diapers and the environment. But even more important than that, I considered cloth diapers while I was pregnant because I figured my daughter would inherit my sensitive skin. After talking to my mom and mother-in-law, I began doing a lot of research on cloth diapers. I spent weeks putting together comparison charts on hybrid diapers and all-in-ones. I called two cloth laundering services for demos and ultimately decided on pre-folds with covers.”

Good for baby

Surprisingly, babies wearing cloth nappies are far less likely to get nappy rashes; about 5% of cloth-using babies do as opposed to 50% of disposable users. Though disposable nappies don’t feel wet to the touch the way cloth does, all that moisture is still trapped inside the plastic next to baby’s skin. Even premium disposable diapers, which feel more paper or cloth-like, are made with non-ventilating plastics. These plastics are also a big part of the reason that disposables truly are more environmentally hazardous.

Good for the earth

We’ve all likely heard that disposable nappies are one of the major contributors to landfill sites with an estimated 7.6 billion pounds of nappies thrown away annually across the globe. And perhaps you’ve considered the problem of non-renewable fossil fuels used to make the plastic in disposable diapers. But there is even more detrimental impact from using disposables. The research in Whitewash: Exposing the Health and Environmental Dangers of Women’s Sanitary Products and Disposable Diapers demonstrates that disposable nappies produce sixty times more solid waste and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp, than cloth nappies. When you include the manufacturing process for disposable nappies, they use 2.3 times more water than washing cloth and also produce an immense amount of chemical waste, such as the chlorine used to bleach the wood pulp and the harmful dioxins created in this process.

My concerns about over-using water and electricity with cloth nappy washing were ridiculous when compared to how much water and energy are used to make and distribute disposable nappies. Oh yes, and disposable nappies are packaged in plastic and cardboard and delivered to stores by fossil fuel-burning vehicles and usually picked up by car driving consumers – all of this waste is eliminated when you buy reusable cloth nappies just once and wash them at home. But even if using a nappy delivery service, the benefits of reusing cloth outweigh the delivery aspect – the water and energy used in washing cloth nappies is infinitesimal compared to the energy used on disposables.

Perfecting your personal system

It’s absolutely true that using cloth nappies takes a little more attention than using disposables. When making these sort of green parenting decisions, for me, it’s similar to how some people are willing to make their own coffee and some folks prefer to get in their car (or walk, bus or bike) and go and buy coffee served in a paper cup – everyone decides for themselves when, where and how much of a commitment they are willing to make to environmentally-friendly lifestyle changes. I change my baby’s cloth nappy a little more frequently than I would disposable, and I wash them at home every other day or so, but this is not a major inconvenience for me. Margari’s system includes using disposables when she is on outings and exclusively cloth at home, mostly because she finds the disposables faster to change. Still, she is tinkering with her system, using disposables less and less, while considering investing in some the slightly more pricey but convenient ‘all-in-ones’ for outings.

Cost considerations

Ultimately the reuse factor in cloth nappies makes huge financial savings when compared to using disposables. Disposable nappies, not including disposable wipes, can cost around $3500/£2500 over an average 30 months of use. Cloth nappies generally cost about $100-300/£60-200 to start up a collection, but that is your final cost unless you add on bits over the years or use fancier cloth, and of course there is the added cost of washing the cloth nappies which will vary greatly depending on how and where you are washing them. Likewise, cloth nappies can be made fairly easily, especially if you have a sewing machine, and they can be made by repurposing materials on hand, such as sheets, flannel cloths, towels and so on. And of course, cloth diapers can be reused for several children.

The “squee” factor

Aside from all the feel-good oxytocin you’ll get from knowing you are doing a right thing by using cloth, many parents find themselves “addicted to cloth diapers” because they are so cute! There is an enormous cottage industry of work-at home-mums making adorable varieties of cloth nappies – check sites like eBay and Etsy to see what I mean.

While you are contemplating the green benefits of using cloth, you may also be considering the “yuck” factor of cleaning them. Just as there are many styles of diapers, there are many ways to clean them. Though some mums have very involved cleaning techniques, I’m a no-fuss mum and simply remove the solids (or semi-solids of my breastfed babies) just as we should for disposables, and then let my machine do the rest of the work.

Whether your concerns about using cloth nappies are ecological, dermatological, hygienic or aesthetic, a good first stop to learning more about using cloth nappies is www.realdiaperassociation.org. If you are ready to jump into the cloth nappies fold, many nappy sellers have “starter-kits” to lessen the stress of picking and choosing or you could even rent cloth nappies, check out the ‘Directory of Newborn Cloth Diaper Rental Programs” at http://allaboutclothdiapers.com. Happy nappies!

Brooke Benoit prefers wool nappy covers and organic pre-folds. With her extremely limited sewing skills, she recently made a cover for the first time from a repurposed wool sweater; unfortunately it fits her better than her new baby.

***Full caveat. Since we have recently moved to a rural village in the Atlas mountains I have quit the cloth! Insha Allah only until we get a washing machine. I did two weeks of trying to do the right thing while washing by hand – just the diapers needed to be done every other day!- before I was informed that the locals certainly don’t do that… and well, I caved! So, insha Allah we expect to be back in cloth in the next couple of weeks when we get a washing machine, until then I am having some major guilt issues about using (and burning!) disposables in such an especially beautiful and (mostly) pristine environment. And how much water I had to use when cleaning by hand! These paws just do not replace a spin cycle. I have a whole new love and respect for the efficiency of washer machines.

***Update April 2nd 2013: We got our washing machine a few months ago, alhumdulillah, and although I then further dragged me heals using the excuses that it was the rainy season (line drying) and then it dried a bit, but I wanted a more natural detergent to use and that needed to be hauled in for me… but finally I did go back to cloth! And my neighbours have been curious about my fancy/imported cloth dipes and I have distributed a few, so maybe something will catch on with them too… insha Allah.

If you are interested in some lovely WAHM (work at home Muslimah) dipes check out the cuteness that is Love, D. over on Etsy.

The last few years eid al-fitr has run up on me so fast that I haven’t been able to get anything special done with the kids. This year (probably because I’m not fasting!) I put in a BIG effort to at least get all of our clothes and snack shopping done ahead of time (probably because I am washing clothes by hand and now live in a rural area where everything will be shut down for eid and then some). So. I did it! I had everything ready for Saturday morning and then heard that eid probably wouldn’t be until Monday. Oh.

Pinning seemed like the obvious thing to do with all my extra time. And it led me to realize that I had everything on hand to do this: *note, I know I could have made some quicky posters or paper ring chains or similar, but I hate to make non-resuable decorations, so I don’t and hence the never-having-enough-time-to-make-something, but this I could:

Now, take a good look at the sample and compare it to our final piece. Those picturesque, perfectly crafted tutorials with children are never my reality.

I almost lost my Mary Poppins a few times, but ultimately I love the individuality that each child brought to it, of course.

I also had the brilliant idea to write an eid greeting on our rustic (read unfinished) walls, but, um, ran out o chalk…